


i really really really really really like you

by yoonbot (iverins)



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-19 03:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4731542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iverins/pseuds/yoonbot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaebum and Jinyoung just need a push in the right direction, and Jackson is all too willing to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i really really really really really like you

**Author's Note:**

> written for the [2015 def-pepi exchange](http://def-pepi.livejournal.com/15064.html) back in may. this is really just all fluff and cuteness.

“Stop staring, Jaebum. You’re going to burn holes into his head.”

Jaebum turns his gaze back to Jackson, who’s sitting across from him. His eyes narrow into a glare. “I wasn’t staring,” he says, taking a forceful bite out of his sandwich. 

Jackson shakes his head at his friend’s denial and throws up his hands in defeat. “You’re so obvious, just saying,” he sighs. Mark, one of Jackson’s friends that sometimes eats with them, chooses that moment to take the seat next to Jaebum on the horrendously orange plastic cafeteria table. 

“Who’s obvious?” Mark echoes. Jaebum presses his lips together and kicks Jackson under the table. The other boy whimpers in response.

“Jaebum is!” Jackson says, a little too loudly. The tenth graders sitting at the table next to theirs glance over at his outburst. Mark turns to look at Jaebum, eyebrow raised in a silent question. 

“Is this about Jinyoung again?” Mark asks, sticking a french fry in his mouth. Jaebum almost spits out the water he was drinking (he wishes he actually did to spray Jackson in the face with his saliva). Jackson nods and Jaebum mentally notes to make him run extra laps during track practice in the afternoon. 

“I wish he’d just grow some balls and go ask the guy out. I’m so tired of talking to someone who won’t even look at my face, you know?” Jackson says, as if Jaebum isn’t even there. Jaebum kicks the other boy again to remind him that they’re still sitting right across from each other. This time Jackson dodges, reaching for one of Mark’s fries instead.

Mark laughs. “Hey, why don’t you just set them up for that charity thing you’re doing for Valentine’s Day?” 

“That’s right!” Jackson exclaims, clapping his hands together. “Matchmakers!” Jaebum just sits there, dumbfounded and seething all at once.

“Hold up,” he snaps. Mark and Jackson finally seem to remember that he’s been sitting there for the past few minutes. “What the fuck are the _Matchmakers?_ ”

“Just give me five bucks and we can get you a date with your crush over there,” Jackson says, leaning over to grab Jaebum’s backpack. He thwarts Jackson’s attempt.

Jaebum feels his eyebrows furrow in irritation. “So, like a fucking dating service. In high school? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Hey,” Jackson frowns. “The money goes to charity, man. Don’t say that about charity.”

“Love doesn’t just happen when you set two people up,” Jaebum retaliates. Did Jackson think he was so much of a loser that he wouldn’t ask Jinyoung out himself? It _would_ take some time before he finally could muster the courage to even smile at the other boy, but – “That’s not how romance works. And why would Park Jinyoung even agree to do it?”

Mark pipes up. “Jinyoung’s my lab partner in chemistry. I could put in a good word for you so he’ll think about giving it a shot.” 

Jaebum glares at him (he can’t believe he thought Mark was the one who kept Jackson from doing stupid shit – all this time, had the other boy actually encouraged him?). “Besides, it’d take, like, thirty years for your ‘romance,’ to happen if we actually waited for you to make the first move,” Jackson laughs. He holds out his hand, wiggling the fingers. “So...about that five bucks?”

“ _No._ ” 

“But charity!”

“ _No._ ”

“It won’t hurt to try it,” Mark suggests with an encouraging smile. Jaebum glares at him, too. 

“Wait,” Jaebum says while pushing away Jackson’s hand with a loud slap. “How did you even know I like Jinyoung?” Mark laughs in response.

“Dude,” Jackson sighs at Jaebum’s confused expression. “I told you – you’re so obvious.”

 

 

 

_**to: Mark** _

_dude did u borrow 5 bucks from my wallet without telling me?_  
message sent at 4:46pm

 

_**to: Jaebum** _

_no_  
message sent at 4:46pm

 

_**to: Mark** _

_im going to kill him after school tmrw_  
message sent at 4:50pm

 

_**to: Jaebum** _

_violence isn’t the answer_  
message sent at 4:51pm

 

 

 

Jackson manages to avoid Jaebum during the three days leading up to Valentine’s Day – eating lunch somewhere other than in the cafeteria, making sure to steer clear of Jaebum’s usual haunts, and even skipping track practice (Jaebum wonders how he managed to fake a sick note for that one). Jaebum lets his anger build and boil because _how dare Jackson Wang do this to him_. He doesn’t even know if he would be able to say something without getting tongue-tied in front of Park Jinyoung and his beautiful face. A permanent frown settles on Jaebum’s face just thinking about it as he changes in the locker room.

When he goes onto the field, he sees Jackson on the track. All the anger rushes back into his blood. Jaebum’s about to stalk over and kick him in the shins (or the balls) _hard_ when someone taps his shoulder from behind. He nearly jumps out of his skin.

“Uh, sorry about scaring you.” The boy smiles and these charming, adorable creases form around his eyes and Jaebum thinks he’s going to start blushing. “I’m Jinyoung and you’re, uh, Im Jaebum? I’m sorry I just waited here for you, you’re on the track team so I figured – I mean! I didn’t really know that but we’re supposed to go on a date today?” Jinyoung laughs nervously. Jaebum swallows and doesn’t know where his voice is or if he even has one.

Park Jinyoung is even more beautiful up-close than when Jaebum eyes him from across the cafeteria or in Lit class. His smile seems brighter – it lights up his whole face in a way Jaebum’s never noticed before – and bigger. And his eyes sparkle like one of those freaking lead male characters in some shoujo manga (not that Jaebum’s ever read one before…really). Jinyoung bites his lip and Jaebum tries hard not to stare at how attractive the whole gesture is before realizing that Jinyoung’s waiting for him to answer.

“I’m, uh,” he coughs, as if it will stop him from saying something really dumb. “Jaebum. I have track practice right now.” 

Jinyoung smiles another mega-watt smile. Jaebum swears he’ll either melt into a puddle right there near the bleachers or be blinded by the beauty. “I know. Should I just wait for you until you’re done? And then we can go somewhere after?”

His lips quirk up into a smile that mirrors Jinyoung’s. “That would be greet,” he says, trying his best to be coherent. “I mean! Great. _Great._ ”

Jinyoung smiles wider (is that even possible? Jaebum’s already staring at the fucking sun – it’s that bright) at that. “Great!”

Jaebum waves to Jinyoung before joining the rest of the team for their warm-up. He can feel the goofy, ridiculously happy grin on his face. Some of the sprinters side-eye him, visibly in conflict about whether they should ask or not, but Jaebum doesn’t even care – he’s so happy right now, he could be _flying_ –

“Told you it was a good idea,” Jackson says, holding up a hand for a high five. Jaebum’s face slightly darkens back into its default grumpy expression. He looks over his shoulder to make sure Jinyoung’s not looking and steps on Jackson’s foot with his sprinting shoes, the ones with the spikes on the bottom.

 

 

 

“And wow, you’re super fast! I don’t think I could ever run that fast, even if I was in fight-or-flight mode, you know?” Jinyoung says excitedly, stirring his iced coffee with his straw. Jaebum smiles at the amused sparkle in Jinyoung’s eyes. He chews his straw between his teeth before releasing it.

“You make track practice sound so much more exciting than it actually is,” Jaebum points out. Jinyoung looks down at his drink (is he blushing?) and adjusts his snapback before meeting Jaebum’s eyes again. After practice, they’d headed to the nearby coffee shop. It was thankfully empty at this time – the after-school rush hour of haggard, caffeine-addicted teenagers petered out by the time Jaebum’s track practice was over. They’d started off chatting about school work and what tests they had to study for next week, which subjects they couldn’t stand (or understand), and whether coffee or tea was better (they both agreed on coffee). There were no awkward moments or times when Jaebum felt like he couldn’t carry on the conversation – Jinyoung seemed almost _familiar_ in the way that it was easy for Jaebum to relate and speak up about whatever subject the other boy brought up. 

Maybe it was because Jinyoung brought up each topic with equal excitement. He genuinely wanted to talk to Jaebum and was interested in what he had to say. Jinyoung shrugs. “I’ve never been that good at sports, so it’s cool to watch people who are.”

“Enough about sprints,” Jaebum groans, like the memory of the sport brought him great pain. “What kind of extracurriculars are you in?”

Jinyoung fidgets with the cup in his hand. “Well,” he starts. “I dance a little? And I’m in choir. But that’s just to get my arts credit?” 

_You must have the voice of an angel,_ Jaebum almost says. “That’s awesome!” he wills himself to say instead, internally cringing at how over-enthusiastic he sounds. “But why do you sound so unsure about it?”

Jinyoung gives him a sheepish smile and puts his drink back down on the table. “I’m honestly not that great in either.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Jaebum says. “I mean, as long as you like it, then you just keep doing it, right?” 

“I mean, I _guess_. But – ”

“I’d love to hear you sing or watch you dance one day.” _Shit._

Did that really just come out of Jaebum’s mouth? Oh my god. So much for playing it cool. Jinyoung meets his eyes before he can avert them. They’re still sparkling and now Jaebum _really_ feels like he’s going to melt, right into a puddle and maybe that wouldn’t be so bad because as a puddle, he wouldn’t have to be so embarrassed – he’s not blushing right now, definitely not, that warmth on his cheeks is –

“Thanks, Jaebum,” Jinyoung says with a smile so sincere that Jaebum thinks it’s the only true thing in the world. “No one’s ever told me that. It means a lot to me that you’d want to.” His hand reaches over to hold Jaebum’s. 

If Jaebum wasn’t blushing before, he definitely was now. He stares at their intertwined fingers and wonders if his palm is sweaty (and if it is, would Jinyoung find that gross? He totally would. Jaebum’s fucking sweaty hands were going to ruin everything and this would be the end of a beautiful, beautiful dream). When he looks up at Jinyoung, he finds that the other boy is blushing just as hard.

“I hope this is ok, uh, I can let go if it’s making you uncomfortable. I’m kind of touchy, according to Mark – ” 

“No!” Jaebum says, a little too loud. A barista looks at them for a moment before turning back to wipe down one of the coffee machines. “I mean, it’s perfect. Not perfect – um, greet. Great. _Great._ ”

Jinyoung laughs and it’s the cutest sound Jaebum has ever heard. His fingers tighten a little around Jaebum’s, holding his hand more firmly now. “So, what kind of music do you like?”

Jaebum feels his smile go into that goofy, ridiculously happy grin. But this time, he doesn’t get embarrassed. He’s sure it probably mirrors the look on Jinyoung’s face.

Their iced drinks sweat onto the table. They keep holding hands.

 

 

 

“To be honest, I’ve always thought you were really cool,” Jinyoung admits when they’re waiting for their buses to arrive. Jaebum looks up to meet his eyes. They’re crinkling with those charming, adorable creases again. “You know, when the teacher calls on you in Lit, you always seem to have something interesting to say.”

Jaebum opens his mouth, but no response comes out (so much for having something interesting to say). Jinyoung seems to notice and doesn’t push. He smiles up to the grey sky instead – so bright that Jaebum swears he could clear up the clouds. 

“Well, that’s my bus,” Jinyoung says as a green one turns the corner. He stands up and Jaebum stands up with him. Jaebum grabs his hand, a little hesitant, but ultimately resolute.

“I really enjoyed our date,” he says, a blush burning his cold cheeks.

Jinyoung blushes too. He laughs nervously and tries to cover a cheek with his free hand. “Yeah.” Jaebum squeezes his hand in his. “Me too.”

 

 

 

_**to: Mark** _

_ilu man_  
message sent at 9:03pm

 

_**to: Jaebum** _

_how come you don’t love me 2? ㅠㅠ_  
message sent at 9:03pm

 

_**to: Jaebum** _

_jackson’s over @ my house but he won’t let me help him with his math hw. he’s been betting whether you or jinyoung will go for the first kiss._  
message sent at 9:04pm

 

_**to: Jackson, Mark** _

_……_  
message sent at 9:04pm

 

 

_**to: Jaebum, Mark** _

_u luv me_  
message sent at 9:04pm

 

message seen at 9:05pm

 

 

 

“You could at least give me some credit, man!” Jackson sighs, clicking his tongue at Jaebum’s lack of appreciation. Jaebum only gives him a shit-eating grin in response.

Jinyoung takes the seat next to Jaebum. Mark waves at him as he sips his water. “I hope you guys don’t mind if I sit with you from now on?” Jinyoung says, a little hesitant. Jackson visibly brightens up.

“Not at all!” he says. Jaebum eyes him suspiciously. “Now we can tell you about how Jaebum stared at – ”

Jaebum blushes furiously and kicks Jackson under the table. Jinyoung watches, confused but smiling, as Jackson hisses in pain. He meets Jaebum’s eyes and Jaebum can’t really believe that Jinyoung’s here, sitting right next to him on the horrendously orange cafeteria table, after all the time he spent having a huge crush on the other boy from afar. He smiles back. 

Mark pats Jackson on the shoulder to console him. “This is why Jaebum will never say he loves you.”


End file.
